Not quite sure whether to post this under one of the Donington threads or under "Personal Photos from Museums"; but here goes , anyway.

Another TNF member has asked me to comment on the saga of the ex-World Cup Rally Triumph 2500 of Brian Culcheth / Johnstone Syer - XJB305H. I used to know this car quite well when I worked for whatever BL called itself that week in the early 1970s. Back in 1975, Leyland Historic Vehicles Limited was created amongst the detritus of BLMC following full Nationalisation at the end of 1974. The aim was to bring together the various vehicles and archives that had previously been looked after separately by the individual BL companies or related custodians. During 1976, some of the key vehicles were brought together and displayed at Donington in two of the Halls that were, presumably, spare at the time. So the Historic collection was entered through the halls containing the Grand Prix cars and the other "permanent" displays. I went to the opening (and later to the opening of the Syon Park exhibition too after the cars were removed from Donington). There was a bit of a falling out, I seem to recall, not least over the "ownership" of the Austin single-seaters.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pics of that particular display and I am not sure if the WCR Triumph was there or not (I belive that it was). Does anyone have any pics taken in the three years or so that the Leyland collection was at Donington? Or, indeed, could confirm if the Triumph was there or not.

Related to this, of course, is whether anyone has any pics of the relocated displays at Syon Park.

Does anyone have a photo of the cars that used to be on the roof above the entrance?
I'm particularly interested in the Lotus (an 18 with aluminium 21 style bodywork) which I used to own, but would be interested in the others as well.

The annual Masters Series Antarctic test day took place at Donington yesterday.....

...but the long necked one did make a good windbreak for a while - it was very cold

This was my first visit to Donington since the GP debacle and it's obviously work in progress. It's also a pity that a lot of the photo opportunities for the average punter are though the debris fencing, but that's progress I suppose.

John Burton was out in Mike Wrigley's B16 but had a bit of a fright when the throttle stuck open at Coppice. He managed to release the pedal by pumping it, the car stopped just short of the barriers although half the gravel trap seemed to come back in the nosecone of the car!

This as far as Mike Wrigley got in the morning as the 711 developed a major oil leak which required removal of the oil tank.

Great shots, cannot wait to see the Group C cars in action at the Donington Historic festival, surprised to see many of them left after the carnage at La Sarthe at the 24 Hours of Le Mans support race.

Looks like topsoil which is being landscaped by bulldozers to hopefully create an infield viewing area ?

PAR

For what do they need an infield viewing area? Most events I watch from there on TV not a single spectator can be seen Simlar from Silverstone-vast banks of empy blue seats..Only Goodwood seems to attract a crowd apart from F1 GP?

For what do they need an infield viewing area? Most events I watch from there on TV not a single spectator can be seen Simlar from Silverstone-vast banks of empy blue seats..Only Goodwood seems to attract a crowd apart from F1 GP?

You ought to get out more! Visit either Prescott or Shelsley VSCC meetings or Cholmondley Pageant of Power.

For what do they need an infield viewing area? Most events I watch from there on TV not a single spectator can be seen Simlar from Silverstone-vast banks of empy blue seats..Only Goodwood seems to attract a crowd apart from F1 GP?

Of course one of the reasons that Silverstone often looks empty is that they only open select grandstands for events, so International Pit Straight might be full of fans but the more visible on TV Stowe could be closed.

Every round of the BTCC attracts good crowds, 10,000 at Rockingham last month for example and certainly a good number last week at Silverstone. Obviously the British Superbikes and MotoGP can fill a circuit with fans. Don't forget Santa Pod raceway for the FIA European Drag Racing events, never a spare seat there.

Club races are never going to attract big crowds these days - the hardcore motorsports fan will probably be at home watching racing on television or travelling elsewhere in the country (last weekend was the Silverstone BTCC round which would have taken fans from any events at Donington or Rockingham for example). The fact that there are some paying spectators at all is a good thing - most similar level soccer or rugby matches near me are completely free to attend and still don't get any watchers unrelated to the players.

Couldn't see anything different there yesterday when sat at the Old Hairpin - must be further around.

I would rather that Donington invested the money in getting the race commentary broadcast on radio like Silverstone and the MSV circuits do. The noise of the GT cars was more than enough to completely block out Johnny Palmer's commentary from the speakers yesterday so I had to keep referring to the British GT twitter feed to find out what was going on.

Whilst I agree with the comment regarding the PA and the need for a decent Radio Donington, I confess to being slightly disappointed with the (lack of) noise from the GTs. The Merc sounds great, but the others seemed a little muted. Perhaps I have been spoilt by GT1s at Le Mans ...

Those Formula E banners must be new, were not there on Tuesday for the BTCC Media Day. Was the infield at Craner open? It was all closed-off on Tues, the only access on the in-field being to the newly rebuilt start-line grandstand.

There was no access at all to the infield......I was told it was because of all the earth they are moving about, makes it dangerous for spectators at present

Ah, probably because people kept walking around the barriers on Tuesday.

The grassy section was/is still there, complete with park benches, but the fencing had all been taken down and there were huge volumes of earth moving equipment at work on Tuesday putting down tonnes of soil. I'm presuming they are planning to put the fences back so the in-field will be open in time for the BTCC and Historic weekends, when at the very least they are used for the promotional tents/car clubs.

The new hills they are constructing will provide some great new viewing locations, although I wouldn't be surprised to find full size fencing running the full infield as it now does on the outside.

I was there on Saturday (750MC meeting) and it was good to see the place finally nearly back to normal after its near death experience of as few years ago. I was alarmed when the commentator mentioned that Starkey's Bridge had been removed, but the pic above reassures me that it was just the modern bit that has gone, not the old bridge. Mind you, he was an interesting commentator, whoever it was. I have never heard the phrase "There they go down to the hairpin and back past the bouncy castle" in a race commentary before! Said bouncy castle being at the back of the paddock. And just who is funding all those Formula E buildings??

Mind you, he was an interesting commentator, whoever it was. I have never heard the phrase "There they go down to the hairpin and back past the bouncy castle" in a race commentary before! Said bouncy castle being at the back of the paddock. And just who is funding all those Formula E buildings??

The commentator was Ian Sowman.

I don't know who is paying for the Formula E buildings; however, an outline planning application was submitted about a year ago prior to Formula E deciding to move to Donington. The reserved matters was submitted towards the end of last year once the Formula E deal had been done. Whether the development would've proceeded without the Formula E deal is debatable and probably a question only Donington can answer.

A new 'building' appeared at Pembrey a few seasons back. It was called the Kimi Raikkonen Centre and was for "education" as such it received a fair bit of government money (both English & Welsh). If the purpose of the Formula E buildings is partly educational then that could be 'our' money but with the ecological nature of Formula E I suspect the funding would mainly come from Central Government.

A new 'building' appeared at Pembrey a few seasons back. It was called the Kimi Raikkonen Centre and was for "education" as such it received a fair bit of government money (both English & Welsh). If the purpose of the Formula E buildings is partly educational then that could be 'our' money but with the ecological nature of Formula E I suspect the funding would mainly come from Central Government.

I would be truly gobsmacked if that was the case, given the cuts that this government has made all over the shop. UK governments do not, and never have AFAIK, put money into motor sport - I believe that is engraved over the doorway to the Treasury.

Business and Energy Minister The Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP added: “Formula E's decision to locate the international teams and its global HQ at Donington Park shows how Britain's thriving motorsport industry is continuing to attract international investment. With investment from the Government's Growing Places Fund - secured through the Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership - Formula E's new facilities will further promote Britain as a leading innovator in developing technologies for energy-efficient cars. Motorsport is now one of the key growth sectors, and a great British success story."

So..we moan when they don't invest in motor sport (ignoring the Silverstone bypass for the moment) and are outraged when they do because ..err.. it's the wrong sort of motor sport because leccy cars sounds rubbish and it's all part of a global conspiracy , right ?